


Rescue

by BlueDemon1995



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BFFs, F/M, Post-Canon, Rescue Missions, lance and Pidge are close
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:08:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29506704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueDemon1995/pseuds/BlueDemon1995
Summary: Keith is captured and as usual things don’t go as planned
Relationships: kidge
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, it seems I cannot help myself. I started another story while neglecting to finish an older one!!!

Chapter 1

KNOCK< KNOCK>KNOCK

I slowly lift my head up from my arms looking side to side, where apparently, I fell asleep. At my desk. With all the lights on. And the TV on. Way too loud. And did I mention the lights, which are so damn bright that they are hurting my eyes. In fact, I think my foot is asleep and I feel cold, freezing in fact. My body aches as I gradually move, clutching my fingers in and out to get some feeling, ugh I drooled on my paperwork! Well, shit, I absently rub at the wet spot and blink repeatedly. What is actually going on?

I hate when I fall asleep while working at my table or desk. Oh well, who am I kidding, it’s not the first time and sadly it won’t be the last. Groggily I try to focus on the numbers on my clock, rubbing my eyes to see it’s a little after 2 am. Who the heck could it be? Shit they are persistent, I’ll give them that. 

Good news never arrives at 2 am. Suddenly, I’m wide awake, with my stomach in knots as I trip my way to the door while hurriedly scrubbing my face (I definitely don’t want drool on it), finally stumbling to the door. I rush to unlock the door and yank it open it as I yawn and push my hair out of my face. Damn I really need a trim, its too damn long. Again.

I look up, and up to see…Krolia?!?! I lean around and look for Keith or Cosmo, nope.

“Hey, Krolia, um, hi? What can I do for you?” Yep, definitely not fully awake yet I open the door anyways and indicate she should enter. I look down, um… yeah…I’m in my brother’s old Garrison t-shirt and some fluffy socks. And that’s it. FUUUCCKKKK….I vaguely remember spilling coke on my pants, which is why when I look back I see my pants are on the floor by the chair so yeah, I am pant-less…and braless catching sight of my bra…also on the floor…well, why are those things so uncomfortable anyways? 

Does anyone really wear them once they get home? I think not! Ugh. I indicate she should take a seat on the couch while I try to evaluate what’s going on. Hopefully she doesn’t notice my lack of attire. She looks serious but honestly I don’t think I ever see her relaxed so …I’m just going to take a leap and assume my attire doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. She’s a girl so no surprises anyway. And at least I woke up and answered the door, which isn’t a given knowing my sleep patterns once I knock out. God, I get enough teasing!

“Pidge, you should not just open your door like that, you didn’t even ask who it was! I could be a dangerous person!” Krolia states in her very calm and serious voice as she takes a seat. Sitting very straight up like she’s in a meeting at a boardroom. Or a spaceship. What she doesn’t look like is a person sitting in my messy front room in the middle of the night on my couch. Ah well.

As I lock the door, I slowly turn to walk over and reply, “Well, you ARE a very dangerous person but good news, so am I! So, not that I’m NOT happy to see you, but it is 2 am so I imagine this is not a social call. What’s up? Where’s Keith and Cosmo? Do you need my awesome tech skills?” Chuckling I add, “What, was Keith afraid to ask?”

Krolia fidgets and finally I get a good look at her eyes-shit she looks … worried … scared … now I’m back to high alert. “I am sorry to interrupt your rest. But Keith has been captured by some … hostiles on a planet we were giving aid to. The Blades want to wait and discuss what should be done. Negotiate. Talk … make plans, wait, argue. I find, that, well, that I simply cannot comply. Not now. I cannot abide by the Blade rules, not with Keith being held. As a prisoner.”

Suddenly I’m fully awake. I interrupt, waving my hand around like I can put the words back in her mouth. “Shit, shit shite! Okay, no problem. Is he, like…ok, do you know where he is? Who has him? How the hell did this happen and why am I just finding out about this!”

Krolia lets out a breath, not breaking eye contact with me, “Yes, I do. They are essentially holding him for ransom and, and I, I left the Blades when they started negotiating with them, going back and forth over the details. Like he was a spacecraft or some bargain or trinket to haggle over. That is NOT acceptable. We are not in the middle of a war. I refuse to let him think I have given him up.” 

I can literally see the sadness in her eyes, and I know, she’s thinking again. I recognize guilt when I see it. Continuing, she sits even straighter, “But, I have not been able to see him in over a… week, I think is your measurement? I asked Cosmo to bring me to Earth for help. And here I am. He brought me to you.”

I nod, pulling at my hair, thinking THANK GOD! While initially I was in the process of sitting; now I’m pacing the length of the room, trying to think and come up with a plan, a good one, one that gets Keith out in one piece. “Okay, okay, I can work with this. I’ve been working on a spaceship in my spare time and it’s functional though not pretty. I can call Shiro, Hunk and Matt, they can meet us. I’ll text my parents, and I’m going to let Lance know and either he can be our home base, or we can pick him up. Oh, and I have to let Coran know.” 

Looking at her, then down at my half dressed self, “So shit, I need you to give me 10 minutes and we can leave.” I look back up to Krolia who has tears in her eyes. Oh no!!! I can’t take a mom crying. I have too much guilt from leaving my own mom, I can’t take this.

I impulsively grab her hands, “Hey! No worries, they don’t know who they messed with! We’ll get him back in no time. Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t had to rescue him sooner! You know his winning personality and all.” I give her a small encouraging smile and not seeing any relief, I end up giving her a hug. I hate to see the worry in her eyes, it reminds me too much of the look my mom had, for far too long. And I know how much Keith loves his mom, he wouldn’t want her to worry. And it’s Krolia.

Krolia hugs me tightly for a few minutes.Then she leans back and looks at me and says somberly, “I prepared a whole speech. I thought I would have to try and convince you to come and help.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, “You are breaking the rules, true? Cosmo obviously knew better than I who to come to. Thank you~~”

Impulsively I lean forward and give her another much longer hug, more of a squeeze, trying to stop the words coming out of her mouth. And I end up just hold her tight rubbing her back. “Hey, it’s okay!!!” 

*Flash* Cosmo is suddenly here and cuddled up to the both of us. In his teeth he has something of Keiths? Maybe his shirt. Awwwww, “Hey boy, don’t worry we are going to get our guy!” I don’t know how long the three of us huddle together. But, we need to get moving. I need to do something!

I stand, take a deep cleansing breath and say, “Okay, first things first, let me get dressed, second let me make some calls and let the guys know what’s going on then Cosmo can take us in a flash to my ship.” 

At her nod, I rush to my room, grab my bag and run into the bathroom. I’m rapidly calculating the logistics. What do we absolutely need, what would be nice and what might be a problem to get. Is the ship really ready? Do we tell any of the other team members or is it better if Griffin and the others can claim ignorance? As I get ready, I’m quickly coming up with lists and to dos. Rapidly making lists in my head I instinctively sort what needs to be done now and what can be saved for later. I need to move quickly because, well, it’s Keith. I don’t have time to go through proper channels. It’s imperative we get him back.

After I’m dressed and have gone over the lists in my head few more times, I finally feel ready enough to to call Shiro, fill him in and give him a list of essentials. He doesn’t hesitate to agree, saying he can leave the Atlas ASAP, but he does need to talk to Curtis first. I ask if he can clear the way with the Garrison. He quickly agrees, asking what he can take off my plate, what he can do, and given some duties he quickly hangs up focused and determined as ever. 

Both of us are now completely concentrating on our individual tasks. Thank goodness, this is one of the times that I realize that Shiro really just steadies me. I don’t even need to see him in person, just hearing his voice tell me we got this, I believe we do. Not to mention that I trust him with my life. Yeah, that’s like solid gold. 

Next is Hunk, who is on the Atlas as well, so luckily, I only have to make one stop. He quickly agrees and says he will meet with Shiro at the pickup point. I debate who to call next. I end up calling Lance, who I don’t want to upset, because he is going through such a rough time. I know I’ve been babying him, hell we all have. But ultimately, I feel like he has a right to decide for himself whether he wants to come along. He’s still part of us, the original team. He isn’t a kid and I know he has come a long way in the grieving process. Besides, how could I not tell him? That would be the ultimate insult even if I was just protecting him. 

Or at least for me it would be. So, I take a deep breath and wonder if he will even answer, after all, it’s late for a farmer and Lance…is still dealing with things.

“Lance, Pidge.”

He kinda chuckles or wheezes? which is as close to a laugh as he gets now a days, “Yeah I know. Don’t you ever sleep? Did you forget how many bushels equal a peck?”

I smile, “Yeah, every decaphoeb or so I sleep and I know one bushel is four pecks, smart ass. Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no easy way to say this, so here I am. I’m going to do this my way and gonna just rip the band aid off. Keith has been…captured and is being held for ransom. The Blades want to wait and negotiate a return, which has no firm deadline. Krolia came to me and well, we are going to get him. You can come or you can coordinate for us from home or really whatever you want. No pressure, seriously, I know you are recalibrating and, shit, you don’t even have to come, I don’t know what I was even thinking. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even called, this is probably bringing up all kinds of”

Lance interjects, calmly, “Pidge.” 

I sigh, “Yeah, I well, I still have to tell my parents and ask Matt if he wants in. Lance, really, whatever you want to do is fine. Take a little time to decide. Whatever you need.” 

I hear him take halting breath, “If you think I won’t hurt your chances, or his, I want to be there. I want to help.”

I smirk, and can’t help but reply, “Dude since when has hurting our chances ever stopped you from coming along!”

He almost laughed again, replying “Yeah, yeah, ok, should I go to the Atlas? Will that be easier? Is that where you are all meeting up? How can I help you?”

I smile and nod, even though he can’t see me, “Yeah, um, the Atlas- that works. I’m getting supplies and will be in route shortly. So, um, I kinda made this, um, ship”

He interrupts, actually laughing, for reals, “Of course you did! Look, call your mom-don’t text! And EAT! I’ll be waiting for you on the Atlas. Sharpshooter out.”

I hit the hang up button, take a deep breath and call my mom. This is the call I’m kinda actually afraid of making. What if she says no. I mean, I’m going and all, but, I don’t want to hurt her. She’s been through so much and I still feel the pain of causing her more pain. While she never said she holds it against me, honestly, I don’t see how. I also don’t want to scare her but hostile aliens and me are not a good combo to mention.

And now, seeing Krolia, so sad and un-Krolia like really made me feel bad all over again for what my mom went through. And it was probably worse because she had no idea what happened to me. Which is why I’m calling even when I don’t want to. She listens to my rambling explanation, without saying a word, and ultimately just states, “Honey, just be careful, and, no arguments, Matt is going with you. NOPE, I just said no arguments. I’ll wake him and have him meet you at the ship. I assume you are taking the ship you are building, but correct me if I’m wrong. I’d hate to send Matt to the wrong place.” 

“Mom…I…I’m…” softly, I don’t have a better response than “thanks.” I can literally feel my eyes well up with tears, God why do I want to cry?!

She must hear the tears in my voice because before I know it she says, “Honey, I’m your mom, what do you think, you have secrets?” Softly chuckling, she whispers, “Just, promise me, you’ll be careful. I know you have to go, and I’ll tell your dad. So don’t worry about that. But I need you to come back with your guy, safely and unhurt. Please. And thanks for calling first this time! I can see that your last punishment has really made a lasting impression.”

“Haha, yeah mom, just for you” but then what she said hits me…square in my red face, more seriously - I whisper furiously, “I love you, thanks for understanding mom, but you know he’s not my…GUY. He’s my TEAMMATE. I mean he’s ALL of our team’s person.”

My mom laughs and says “Sure thing, honey. You are right, because you always go off into space for people you don’t love! Let Krolia know I’m here for her and if you need back up, just call, seriously call, I’ll move heaven and earth for you” (is that a sigh) “always …love you. Be safe. Please.”

We hang up and I shoot a text to my dad, I know my mom is going to tell him everything but seriously, I may need back up so it is better to be safe and tell him what I know and share plans as I go. I grab my bag to leave and turn off the lights. No second thoughts, just going through my mental list, this is for Keith after all. 

Krolia stands, “Are you sure? You are already done? Who can help?”

I look up, firm and resolute, ”It’s Keith” I helplessly shrug, “…we are all going.”

She looks kinda well, honestly, weird, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you all into this. Your mom must…”

I know where this is headed… nowhere helpful. She has to know that I’d move heaven and hell for Keith. Any of us would. So I simply, grab her arm and walk her out my door, making sure my door is locked (can’t have a repeat of two weeks ago) and hold onto Cosmo. 

“Krolia, no offense, but you couldn’t stop me, or us. Any of us. And my mom knows I, or rather, WE wouldn’t leave Keith hanging. So, it’s cool.” I look around and make sure I have all the supplies that are necessary as well as the minor things like locking my door tight and things are turned off. “Alright, Krolia, let’s go get our guy. Cosmo, who’s a good boy?!? Please take me to my workstation, boy.”

As we flash out, I send a hopeful thought into the universe, please keep all those I love safe. Please.


	2. Ch 2 Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team is on the way!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all!! Hope you like the latest chapter!!! Please let me know what you think and read my other stories :). I love comments and feed back (please be kind-even if you don’t like it you can say but nicely!) Sorry for any mistakes that would be all on me!

Cosmo literally pops us into my work area, and I rub his ears as he whines. I know he’s sad so I lean down and while holding his head still, I look into his eyes. “Don’t worry we are getting him back.” 

As always, his intelligent eyes indicate that he understands me and well we seem to be on the same damn page because he agrees. But his lean into me and whine don’t go unnoticed. I can sympathize and understand, we need him back. Krolia is not the only one who needs Keith back! Poor Cosmo!! I give him a quick rub and an ear tug. He bumps me which of course, knocks me down and I smile. I feel my eyes tear up suddenly and I hug him trying to tell myself it’s all going to work out.

I quickly show Krolia what she needs to get aboard, while I run through a systems check. While everything is new there are plenty of bugs that I had planned to work out. With the timetable worked up and now us going into space, well I need to be sure that this crap is working well. After a bit, we were ready to leave. It’s actually mostly due to Krolia. She is like crazy strong so loading the ship didn’t take that long! 

I get to the Atlas and stock up on the remaining supplies while gathering the rest of the gang. My dad has called by now and said whatever I need to just let him know. Then he rambled into the he whole routine - be careful, call for help, don’t be stupid and he finished with come back with my guy. What the hell people. I have NO guy! Anyways we are off before you know it. I honestly think it’s within the hour, which is good. Making good time is important at this point. We need to move fast so hopefully no one notices Krolia and Cosmo were missing.

On the ship, once we are off, I’m basically useless. I don’t pilot, that’s Shiro so now I’m I’m so focused on trying to make plans that I don’t even realize that I’ve started pacing again. At some point Lance grabs me, pulling me close and says, “Carina, you need to sleep. You called me a little after 2 am or so, you won’t be any good to us, to KEITH, comatose. The coordinates are in, we have a plan, please just take a break. I’ll wake you up if anything comes up. I swear.” 

He has his arms around me and I take a second to look at him, really look at him. He seems better than the last time I saw him, but he’s still too skinny. Too pale especially with the dark circles under his eyes. And as I look at Lance I know he’s right, but I just…I feel too edgy, how could I relax? There is no way I can turn off my brain at this point. Shit, Hunk is already cooking to alleviate stress but what can I do??? 

I shake my head and say, “No, no, I’m good, I’ve gone on way less sleep. You know me.”

Frowning he nods, “Yes, I do. And that’s why I’m going to push this. Plus, I know you are also evaluating if I’m okay when I’m standing here worried for you!” Lance rolls his eyes and yells that we are getting some shut eye, grabbing and dragging me to the back where the holding bay is. He tells me to sit and comes back moments later with pillows and blankets. 

“I got you. Really, trust me.” He sits against a wall and gets me to lay down with himself next to me. I keep fidgeting so he ends up laying down with me, an arm snug around my waist, because I kept trying to get up. Finally, he says, “We are getting him back. Just rest up, so that wicked smart brain of yours is fully functional. I’m here. We are all here and just like back then, everything is going to work out. Seriously who stands a chance against us?! The have no clue of our determination.” 

I slowly nod and try really hard to relax. But I can’t. I don’t want to voice my biggest fear. Or more accurately, I can’t. What if we don’t get him back? What if we aren’t enough? What if it’s like Allura, he sacrifices himself for us. I mean honestly, that’s his MO. What if he’s already dead? What if he’s being tortured, or he’s hurt? With all these thoughts swirling in my brain, I just can’t or rather don’t want to voice it, not out loud. 

But it’s there, like a sliver of wood stuck in my mind. Just bothering me enough that I can’t forget about it. And there so I cannot stop poking at it. 

Finally, he sighs and asks me, “Do you still trust me?”

I can feel his heartbeat behind me and his steady breathing, luring me to unwind. I nod, of course. I can feel his body relax and whisper, “Why? Sometimes I don’t even trust myself?”

I sigh, “Well, tough shit, I trust you, always. Even way back in our Garrison days, when you were being dumb, I still told you about my suspicions and let you come to save Shiro.”

He laughed then, “Let me? Okay, just relax you don’t have to sleep just rest.” Then she felt his finger is stroking my hand and I’m finally warm instead of ice cold. But I can’t help but worry. Again, we know better than most, that everyone doesn’t get a happy ending, most importantly Allura but even on a larger scale Olkarion. I know I’m not going to sleep so I figure, I’ll wait Lance out and sneak out once he goes to sleep.

But sometimes I forget, Lance knows me. The real me. He’s so observant and good at getting others to relax, shit, he probably know me better than I know myself. With him holding onto me, keeping me close, his steady warmth relaxes me, his fingers rubbing circles on my hand and I find myself slowly start to drift off to sleep. Then Lance starts to sing a soft lullaby. In Spanish. 

Before you know it, Krolia is waking us up and telling us we arrived and need to get in action. We get up and Krolia and Shiro lay out the facts that we know and what we can hazard a guess of. It’s going to be an extraction with some Razzle Dazzle thrown in. You can insert my eye roll at any point but we have a plan. 

Ultimately, it’s been less than 24 hours that I have known that they have had Keith. As far as I’m concerned, that’s at least one day too long. I rub my eyes, crack my neck and get up. I push everything to the side. No worries, we got this I tell myself, after all we got a plan to enact! The team is back! Whoever it is who has Keith, well, they really don’t know who they messed with. Sure the Blades are one thing, they were super scary at one time. But now, I bet this planet just views them as some ordinary humanitarian organization. 

Well, wake up cuz we are on the job. I look at my people, my family and take a deep breath. We got this. We CAN and WILL do this. No doubt. No room for other options. After all, Keith is family. And we are here to get him back. Period.


	3. Chapter 3-Seeking What Is Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krolia and Pidge team up to get their boy!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Hope you enjoy. I’ve been feeling pretty run down so sorry for any mistakes!! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3

The plan is a little bare but should work. At least that is what we are banking on-an element of surprise and pure grit. Part one - Krolia and I will infiltrate the planet and I will hack into their system with her having my back (a la Keith mode). Part 2 - The guys will use the cloaking device I have on the main ship to stay incognito and try to get some recon going. Part 3 - I have added a few pods that will also cloak so Lance and Hunk can actually leave the ship and get the lay of the land. Plus if we need an escape route they can pick us up or lay cover. And finally, Shiro and Coran will be onboard holding control. Matt will also have to stay on board to run communications and keep track of the ships’ needs. Unfortunately, it’s still in the prototype phase, so the ship itself may need some debugging or quick fixes. I really wasn’t ready for this ship to be out in action so it’s not fully functional up to my standards. And since Matt knows how I think, he’s best suited for this, especially with Hunk out on recon. I know Matt’s not happy that he must stay back but Krolia promises my safe return. Seriously, why is he doubting me, after all, who saved who here????

As I make some last minute adjustments and get things accessible for Matt, Shiro pulls me aside at the last minute to ask that I be careful. Duh!!!

I smirk, “Dude, I’m always careful!!”

He shakes his head slowly, spacing out his words, like he’s talking to an idiot or small child. “Yeah, no, who do you think you are fooling?!? I was there. You are not rational, careful or especially smart when you are going after those you love. Remember, you lied about who you were to find your brother and dad. You found your brother’s grave alone for goodness sake! No, don’t shake your head at me, I’m just asking to please keep in mind, you do no one any good if you are captured or injured!!! Be smart.” 

Then he paused for a second and lowered his voice, “Besides, you know, as well as I do, that Keith would not want you hurt just to rescue him. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee he would rather not be saved at your expense!”

In the end I just nod and end up giving him a long hug. Seriously space dad is such a thing! I know he hates it but it’s just fact. Then Matt’s there and finally all of us are in a group hug! While I love all these guys they seriously need to have more faith in me!!! I’m the shit, I’ve mastered so many planet’s tech, this will be a cake walk!

Time skip~~~

Fuck! Quiznack!! I pull at my hair trying not to panic. What the hell kind of operation are they running here?!? Sweating I turn to Krolia, whispering, “This is like the middle ages, not just centuries old tech but like nothing. Shit, it’s like, it cannot even be labeled tech it’s so old. We may have to just sneak around and find him; blind! There’s literally nothing here to even hack!”

Krolia looks worried, “Should we go back? I can contact the Blades and see”

“NO, no way! We can be sneaky!! I’m the Queen of sneak or urm, anyways, I believe I can use heat readings to see where there’s a surge in body temperature. It looks like these inhabitants are not as warm as humans or Galra. C’mon let’s go see, really quick, before we leave. Please? We are already here, it’d be a waste to just leave!!” I try and use some puppy dog eyes but honestly I have no clue if Krolia was motivated by that. I’m actually betting on the idea of rescuing Keith efficiently. Damn. 

Krolia slowly nods, “If it doesn’t work, we reevaluate. Keith would not want you to risk your life for his. I know this. And honestly, I don’t either. This is final. Blades live to fight another day. We will not give up but we need to be free.”

I give an absent nod, yada, yada, yada, tuning out Krolia lecturing me while I figure out the path of least resistance. Sure, whatever. I have no plans on leaving this planet without Keith. So, whatever keeps the peace. I give a very light on details update to everyone and ask for radio silence. They can track me based on my watch so they will be able to know where we are. We maneuver ourselves pretty well, considering we haven’t really worked together in ages, and even then Keith was with us. And factoring in we do not have plans or cameras, we aren’t doing bad. 

Finally, we get to my first guess to where they might be holding Keith. Okay that was a bust. It seemed like there were a lot animals or livestock but it wasn’t a cell of prisoners.

Okay, moving on. I decide to look instead for isolated heat signatures. As we are sneaking around, I get an idea. Shit, I want to hit myself in the head. Damn, with their heat temperatures much lower than a humans and Galra they would most likely keep them away from their heating system. So readjusting what I know, I think I can find where Keith is!! I type out a message to the others and we are on the move. It’s a little tricky because we literally just have to hide and be silent. 

But then we finally get to the door with an actual lock! Now, this could have been the end of it! But luckily Matt and I were going to be magicians soooo, yes, let’s just say I know my way around a regular ole lock. Cuz I’m that good.

Krolia looks at me and I just say, “That’s a story for another time.”I hear the snick, because of course I still got it! And we are in. Before I open the door, Krolia and I exchange a solemn look. I pull out my own creation of a bayard and take a deep breath. 

Moment of truth. Fingers crossed… this isn’t a bad idea. I really have no idea what we are going to find. Hell, I really need a positive sign. Anything.


End file.
